Sarah Mayhew Craddock looks forward to another exciting LiveFriday event at the Ashmolean Museum with a mix of music and art created and inspired by William Blake

For traditionalists the prospect of throwing open the Ashmolean Museum’s doors to an ‘amped up’ audience of thousands would be a kind of hell, but to those amped up audiences it’s a kind of heaven.

Enter, from every conceivable angle, another exciting, enthralling, intelligent and entertaining LiveFriday tomorrow.

Curated in celebration of the Ashmolean’s William Blake: Apprentice and Master exhibition, culminating in the Inspired by Blake Festival organised in association with Blackwell’s Bookshop, this LiveFriday is inspired by William Blake’s epic poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and will explore the way that Blake has influenced writers, artists, and musicians through the ages, alongside a special late night opening of the exhibition.

Largely unrecognised during his lifetime William Blake (1757-1827) has inspired generations and influenced infinite aspects of modern culture, from music and literature, to graphic novels and film. At once very weird and very wonderful, Blake said that his work was inspired by supernatural apparitions.

Appearing from behind exhibits and resonating throughout the museum, at contrasting ends of the harmonious spectrum, will be performances by local musicians responding, in their own idiosyncratic ways, to the visionary cross-disciplinary artist William Blake.

The Balkan Wanderers are one of several acts that will be performing interpretations of two of William Blake’s poems: The Tyger and London.

Stu, of The Balkan Wanders, said: “We’ve composed totally new, original pieces of music around the poems, specifically for this event. The flowing nature of Blake’s words meant that it felt natural to link them to melodies and rhythms.”

“As with most of our compositions we’ve incorporated elements of Gypsy, Balkan and punk music, and our arrangements include male and female vocals, various percussion, clarinet, bass and guitar. We’ll be performing each song twice – first early in the evening around 7, then repeated later on around 9. The performances will be in the Mallett Gallery, which looks like a beautiful setting for the show.”

Commenting on the experience of being asked to respond to Blake, Otto Wolf from Balloon Ascents, who will also be performing in the Mallett Gallery, said: “We’ve never done anything like this before so it’s exciting.

“Writing the song was a refreshing experience; working with his words was like having someone else in the room. We already had an idea for a melody and played around with that. It was far easier than expected as the melody just seemed to wrap itself cosily around the words and that was that.”

Getting classical Schola Cantorum will sing choral arrangements of Blake’s poems by composers such as Vaughan Williams, Tavener, and Parry. Meanwhile The Beatroots will provide some heavenly jazz acapella, and elsewhere visitors can discover how Blake has inspired modern musicians such as Bob Dylan and Patti Smith from a silent radio station played through wireless headphones. In short, there will be exciting, and quality creative interpretations to whet all appetites. Thomas from Balloons Ascents remarked: “The Ashmolean has serious kudos. Doesn’t matter if you’re singing or dancing or just walking around looking at old violins, you feel the energy of the place.”

Among many other fascinating illusions and visions the Ashmolean will host a LottoLab installation, where visitors can discover the limits of human perception through a series of multi-sensory illusions, whilst a wandering magician will explore the distinctions between reality and imagination.

Oxford Mail:
The Balkan Wanderers

A shadow puppetry theatre will occupy the museum’s underworldly crypts and for the artistically-inclined Armchair Puppets will teach visitors how to design puppets inspired by monsters in Blake’s art, elsewhere in the museum shadow cutting artist will provide on-the-spot silhouette portraits for visitors to take away and there will be workshops enabling visitors to illustrate poetry and learn how to mirror-write.

A scintillating series of talks and tours will also bring Blake’s work to life. John Dunning, curator of the recent graphic novel exhibition at the British Library, will provide insight into Blake’s crucial influence on the genre, alongside short introductions to Blake in film, Blake and the Gothic, and the neuroscience behind hallucinations, presented by Oxford’s finest academics. The Architectural Association will showcase a series of designs inspired by Blake’s mythical city of Golgonooza.

From the Oxford Imps presenting demonically funny improvised comedy, to actress Ruth Rosen performing a Blake inspired monologue, and Oxford University Dramatic Society offering recitals of Blake’s poems in the exhibition, to a performance of Alan Ginsberg’s Howl, visitors should expect the unexpected.

So go forth, meet and mingle with angels and demons for yourselves; take a trip from the hellish museum crypts to the heavenly rooftop bar to discover more about this extraordinary and mysterious man.

CHECK IT OUT
Live Friday takes place at the Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, tomorrow, from from 
7-10.30pm. Entrance is free.  the William Blake: Apprentice and Master exhibition is ticketed, with last entry at 9pm

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